Developers bilk city in hospital construction
One hundred years ago today … a hearing of the Board of Estimates revealed that the construction of Cumberland Hospital in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, was going to cost the city more than twice what it had agreed to pay.
Evening World, 11 January 1921, p. 8. Chronicling America.
Cumberland Street Hospital had been in operation since 1873, but in 1918 construction had begun on a new facility at 35 Auburn Place, Brooklyn.
Cumberland Street Hospital, 23 October 1918. New York City Department of Records. Courtesy Brownstoner.
The Herald’s reporting suggested corruption and chicanery, implicating Mayor John Hylan.
New York Herald, 12 January 1921, p. 24. Chronicling America.
– Jonathan Goldman, January 11, 2021
TAGS: corruption, construction, real estate, developers, hospitals, municipal government